The haunting lyrics of ‘Woh Kaagaz Ki Kashti’ by Jagjit Singh portray the joyous memories of childhood with an endearing focus on stories. When he talks about the short nights and long stories (Woh choti si raten, woh lambi kahaani), the sweet sorrow makes your heart heavy and your eyes moist, but you still smile.
Stories have always been an integral part of childhood. There is a story to make you eat, one to make you bathe and another to make you sleep. Until a few years ago, the elders at home took charge of the children and disciplined them with their love and their stories. Now, new-age parents in nuclear families attempt to recreate that magic. The stories were exciting, had gripping plots and unexpected twists, and had a moral woven in, too. They were drawn from the epics, history, hearsay or pure imagination.
In ancient India, listening to stories was the only entertainment for people. They worked hard through the day, had an early dinner and gathered under a tree to listen to the stories told by the village scholar amid the flickering lights of oil lamps. They called it ‘Katha Kalakshepam’. ‘Kalakshepam’ means spending time. ‘Katha Kalakshepam’ is spending time by listening to stories.
Listening to these stories repeatedly, people internalised their essence and could give examples from them while guiding their children and grandchildren. A person who overslept was teased as Kumbakarna, the one who ate a lot was called Gatotkacha, the scheming villain was named Shakuni and the generous donor was praised as Karna. There was no need to explain who these characters were and the message reached the recipients without any difficulty.
After children reached school-going age, and got busy with homework and tests, they hardly had time to listen to the stories of their grandparents. Text books and teachers took on that role. Language books contained stories from the epics, Upanishads and famous literary works. Children learnt great truths through simple stories.
A popular story was that of the sage who burnt a crane to ashes with his angry looks, a lady who knew about it without being there and the meat seller who knew about these things just by doing his duty and taking care of his parents. The lady and the meat seller show the right path to a pious man and make him understand that commitment to one’s work earns one true merit, not one’s family background or knowledge. An uneducated woman and an underprivileged meat seller were in a position to preach the truth to someone who was considered higher in terms of knowledge. The message is clear –– work is worship.
As children grew up, they were no more interested in the stories of kings and queens and gods and goddesses. They sought thrill, adventure and romance. Story books, magazines and comics based on these held the children in a thrall before television entered our drawing rooms. The stories of ‘Chandamama’ were an inseparable part of the growing up-years of those in their 40s, and more. It was called ‘Ambuli Mama’ in Tamil. Later, when English became the preferred medium of instruction, stories from ‘Amar Chitra Katha’ took their place. Children learnt about freedom fighters, great fictional characters and historical heroes of India and abroad through these comics.
People may lament about the change in society now. Many children are no longer fascinated by printed books. Even babies eat only if they are allowed to watch their favourite videos. But even then, stories continue to play their roles. Many popular stories have been made into videos and children watch them, wide-eyed. There is an animated version of Punyakoti (A cow accosted by an aged, hungry tiger promises to return and become his meal after feeding her calf. She actually returns, and the tiger, shocked by her ability to willingly embrace death because she gave her word, lets her go, and jumps to his death), the famous folk tale from Karnataka, which teaches that fulfilling one’s promise is greater than any other virtue.
When a child listens to this story again and again, it absorbs the message in it. A story can drive home a message more strongly and surely than rebuke, punishment or advice.
Scholar Vishnu Sharma narrated moral-rich stories to the princes of a kingdom and taught them to be good rulers, successful entrepreneurs and happy human beings through the stories of animals and birds. Those stories have been collected as ‘Hitopadesha tales’. (Hita+Upadesha – pleasing advice)
Great teachers have always used stories as tools for teaching. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Vivekananda conveyed a lot through their delightfully-simple stories. Famous orators regale their audience with interesting stories and anecdotes.
Stories have existed from time immemorial and will continue to exist as long as human civilization is alive. The way they are told, may change. (Now, we read these stories in Whatsapp and on Facebook). From the status of aural delights, they have become visual feasts. Of course, when one listens to stories or reads them, one can imagine many things and the joy derived will be directly proportionate to one’s ability to visualise things. But, we should just feel happy that stories reach children in some form.
Stories have always been an integral part of childhood. There is a story to make you eat, one to make you bathe and another to make you sleep. Until a few years ago, the elders at home took charge of the children and disciplined them with their love and their stories. Now, new-age parents in nuclear families attempt to recreate that magic. The stories were exciting, had gripping plots and unexpected twists, and had a moral woven in, too. They were drawn from the epics, history, hearsay or pure imagination.
In ancient India, listening to stories was the only entertainment for people. They worked hard through the day, had an early dinner and gathered under a tree to listen to the stories told by the village scholar amid the flickering lights of oil lamps. They called it ‘Katha Kalakshepam’. ‘Kalakshepam’ means spending time. ‘Katha Kalakshepam’ is spending time by listening to stories.
Listening to these stories repeatedly, people internalised their essence and could give examples from them while guiding their children and grandchildren. A person who overslept was teased as Kumbakarna, the one who ate a lot was called Gatotkacha, the scheming villain was named Shakuni and the generous donor was praised as Karna. There was no need to explain who these characters were and the message reached the recipients without any difficulty.
After children reached school-going age, and got busy with homework and tests, they hardly had time to listen to the stories of their grandparents. Text books and teachers took on that role. Language books contained stories from the epics, Upanishads and famous literary works. Children learnt great truths through simple stories.
A popular story was that of the sage who burnt a crane to ashes with his angry looks, a lady who knew about it without being there and the meat seller who knew about these things just by doing his duty and taking care of his parents. The lady and the meat seller show the right path to a pious man and make him understand that commitment to one’s work earns one true merit, not one’s family background or knowledge. An uneducated woman and an underprivileged meat seller were in a position to preach the truth to someone who was considered higher in terms of knowledge. The message is clear –– work is worship.
As children grew up, they were no more interested in the stories of kings and queens and gods and goddesses. They sought thrill, adventure and romance. Story books, magazines and comics based on these held the children in a thrall before television entered our drawing rooms. The stories of ‘Chandamama’ were an inseparable part of the growing up-years of those in their 40s, and more. It was called ‘Ambuli Mama’ in Tamil. Later, when English became the preferred medium of instruction, stories from ‘Amar Chitra Katha’ took their place. Children learnt about freedom fighters, great fictional characters and historical heroes of India and abroad through these comics.
People may lament about the change in society now. Many children are no longer fascinated by printed books. Even babies eat only if they are allowed to watch their favourite videos. But even then, stories continue to play their roles. Many popular stories have been made into videos and children watch them, wide-eyed. There is an animated version of Punyakoti (A cow accosted by an aged, hungry tiger promises to return and become his meal after feeding her calf. She actually returns, and the tiger, shocked by her ability to willingly embrace death because she gave her word, lets her go, and jumps to his death), the famous folk tale from Karnataka, which teaches that fulfilling one’s promise is greater than any other virtue.
When a child listens to this story again and again, it absorbs the message in it. A story can drive home a message more strongly and surely than rebuke, punishment or advice.
Scholar Vishnu Sharma narrated moral-rich stories to the princes of a kingdom and taught them to be good rulers, successful entrepreneurs and happy human beings through the stories of animals and birds. Those stories have been collected as ‘Hitopadesha tales’. (Hita+Upadesha – pleasing advice)
Great teachers have always used stories as tools for teaching. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Vivekananda conveyed a lot through their delightfully-simple stories. Famous orators regale their audience with interesting stories and anecdotes.
Stories have existed from time immemorial and will continue to exist as long as human civilization is alive. The way they are told, may change. (Now, we read these stories in Whatsapp and on Facebook). From the status of aural delights, they have become visual feasts. Of course, when one listens to stories or reads them, one can imagine many things and the joy derived will be directly proportionate to one’s ability to visualise things. But, we should just feel happy that stories reach children in some form.